Longtime ‘Power Rangers’ Actor Arrested for Murder

38-year-old actor Ricardo Medina Jr., a longtime Power Rangers actor best known for playing, Red Lion Wild Force Ranger, Cole Evans, on several variants of the popular series, has been arrested and charged with murder in the 2015 stabbing death of his roommate Joshua Sutter, according to reports.

Medina claimed self defense in the 2015 incident and initially escaped charges, however according to TMZ he was arrested on January 14, 2016.

In Medina’s version of events, he and Sutter engaged in a heated argument over Medina’s girlfriend’s prescience at their apartment. Medina claims that he and the woman locked themselves in his bedroom to escape the confrontation, but that Sutter broke down the door. At that point, Medina says he picked up a samurai sword to defend himself and ended up stabbing Sutter in the abdomen, leading to his death. Medina called the police himself shortly after the confrontation, and though briefly held he was released due to lack of evidence.

After his release, Medina acted remorseful to news cameras, telling reporters he was, “very, very, very sorry for what occurred. I am very happy to be out of jail, and my heart goes out to the Sutter family.”

Neither the Sutter family nor police believed the actor’s apology or self defense claims however, as it was Sutter who had defensive wounds on his body. Also, a majority of the blood from the attack was outside of Medina’s room, not inside it, where it should be according to his story. These facts, and others that came to light in the ensuing investigation have lead to charges that could potentially land Medina in jail for life, with a minimum sentence of 26 years for conviction.

Medina is best known for his time playing Cole Evans, the red ranger on Power Rangers Wild Force. He starred in all 40 episodes of the series, including the franchise’s 10th Anniversary episode “Forever Red.” He also had an unrelated recurring roll on the later series Power Rangers Samurai, and made appearances on CSI Miami and E.R.